Storm (Georgia Smoke #4)

• Seventeen •

“I might be trying to butter you up before I tell you something.”

Storm

I sat beside her on the sofa while she looked over all the legal documents and papers giving her legal guardianship of Dovie. Every once in a while, a small giggle would escape her, and she’d just shake her head and look up at me in disbelief. I had planned to give this to her in the morning when I brought her breakfast, but she’d gone snooping.

I had been coming down our drive when my phone alerted me that the shed door was open. Once I parked in the garage, I pulled up the security camera app to look at it, although I already knew it was Briar. She had gone out the back door less than ten minutes ago. While I’d made my way to the backyard, I’d watched her on my phone screen, looking through my files.

Nosy little ass.

I had been debating on letting her know that I knew she’d gone to Atlanta to a fucking pawn shop or just letting it go. I knew what she had pawned and how much she had been given.

I must have missed where she’d had the diamonds tucked away, or I’d have taken them with the money. The fucker had ripped her off, but I had the other nine grand from him tucked away, which I’d gotten from the owner when I stopped in for a visit. I would put it in the savings account I had for her and Dovie. She was hell-bent on having her own money, and six grand wasn’t going to get her very far. I wanted to believe she wouldn’t leave me now. It was hard when she did shit like go pawn jewelry behind my back.

“I don’t know how to tell her,” she said, then began biting her bottom lip nervously.

I reached over and pulled it free, then held her chin as she lifted her eyes to meet mine. “She’s going to be happy,” I reassured her.

Briar nodded. “Yeah, I know, but there is still the thing about Netta. I don’t know how she’s going to handle her death. She never spoke of her, but it’s still her mom.”

The thought that Dovie would be upset over her trashy-ass birth giver’s death hadn’t occurred to me when I shoved her down the flight of stairs. I was just happy her fucking neck had snapped and her head had hit the concrete so hard that it cracked her skull. I hadn’t wanted to draw it out. I’d needed to get back to Briar. Regardless, I would have still offed the bitch.

“She has you,” I reminded her.

Briar let out a deep sigh. “I just want to say the right thing.”

“Tell her when you’re ready. Then, I’ll set up the visit to Our Lady of Grace.”

Briar scrunched her nose. “What is that?”

I dropped my hand from her chin and shrugged, leaning back on the sofa with my other arm behind her. “A Catholic school about thirty minutes from here that has classes for the hearing impaired. Not that Dovie needs that, but there will be people who use sign language for communication,” I explained.

Briar stared at me for a moment, saying nothing.

“You’re serious?” she asked finally.

I nodded. “What? I mean, unless you have an aversion to Catholics.”

She let out a short laugh. “No, I don’t have an aversion to Catholics. But you’re telling me you looked into schools for her specifically already?”

“Of course I did. There’s a long wait list there, but she bypassed the list.”

Briar raised her eyebrows. “She did, huh? Do I want to know why, or should I just not ask how you managed to pull that off?”

“I know the priest,” I told her. That was all she had to know. The rest would probably be too much for her.

“You know the priest,” she said slowly, looking like she wanted to ask more but was debating it. “Oh, but she’s behind. She has missed four years of school. What—”

“They are aware of that, and she will start with a private instructor. She can attend the classes she should be in at her age, but she will have private lessons mixed into her schedule. Just so that she doesn’t feel excluded, they think it is best she gets to go to the regular classes even if she isn’t being graded in there just yet.”

When I finished explaining, the look on Briar’s face was complete adoration.

That’s right, little siren. I’m taking care of things.

“You thought of everything,” she said.

I shrugged. “I’m thorough.”

She had no idea just how thorough I was. I decided to tell her the rest since she was going to think about it too.

“Drew, the doctor—I’m sure you remember him even if you were in pain at the time—he also set up some appointments for Dovie with a psychologist out of Atlanta who specializes in childhood trauma. She’s well known, and she’s worked with others with Dovie’s same issue. You know, her speech, I mean.” Or lack thereof.

Her mouth opened slightly as her eyes widened. “It’s all really happening. Dovie is getting everything I wanted for her.”

Yes, she was. And I was the one paying for it. Not some rich bastard who was keeping Briar as a side piece.

“I told you I would fix your problems. There’s a new app on your phone that will help you read things. It’s specifically for dyslexia. The specialist I spoke with said this is the best out there right now. If you are open to it, I can get them to come here and work with you once or twice a week.”

She was staring at me, saying nothing, when she finally blinked, then shook her head.

Still not responding to what I’d told her, she leaned forward and placed the paperwork on the coffee table. Then, she stood up, turned to face me, then climbed into my lap, straddling me.

Grabbing her waist, I pulled her closer. “This is why you need to go change into a sundress and get rid of the panties.”

Her laugh made my chest tighten. She was happy, and I fucking loved that I had done that.

“Dovie is upstairs. I’m not trying to have sex. But I might be trying to butter you up before I tell you something,” she said with a slight frown.

“My cock is hard, so I’d say I’m buttered up,” I replied.

That got me a half smile from her.

“Okay, so, today …” she started, and I knew then what this was about. She was going to tell me where she’d gone and what she’d done. I almost stopped her and admitted to the fact that I knew this already, but I didn’t. I needed to see just how honest she was going to be.

“I went to a pawn shop in Atlanta.” She paused and studied me, gauging my reaction.

“Go on,” I said.

“And, well, I had two pairs of diamond earrings and a diamond-and-sapphire bracelet that had been, uh, given to me once. And I had been holding on to them for their value only. I wasn’t attached or anything. But just the other day, Dovie went shopping with your sister, and I didn’t have money to give her. I have one credit card I’ve never used. It is for emergencies, and I gave it to her. She barely used it. I need cash. My own money. And if I can’t work, then, well, I just need my own money.”

When I was sure she was done, I nodded. “Okay.”

I wanted to strip her clothes off, bend her over the sofa, and fuck her for telling me the truth, but I refrained in case Dovie did come downstairs.

“Okay? So, you’re not mad?”

“No, I’m not mad.”

But I wished she’d take money from me. That was something we had to work on. I’d give her my Amex Black if she’d fucking take it.

“Then, since you’re in such a good mood, perhaps we could discuss my getting a job.”

“No.”

She rolled her eyes. “UGH!”

I ran my hands over her ass and squeezed. “Why did you go snooping in the shed?” I asked her, curious as to what she had been looking for.

“A ladder. I need to pick some peaches.”

“There are still a few in the kitchen,” I pointed out.

“I need more. I wanted to make a cobbler.”

Slapping her ass once, I took her waist and moved her off my lap. “That’s the magic word. How many do you need?” I asked, standing up and heading for the door.

“I guess I’m making a cobbler,” she replied in an amused tone.

“Hell yeah, you are.”

“Get me about five good-sized ones.”

I grabbed my hat off the back of the recliner where I’d left it and put it on my head before going to pick my girl some peaches.